Archive

With already a great start to the year, I don‘t need to say much. For a few paragraphs, let’s rattle off a few things that happened in The City—Good Hope Young Adult Ministry in 2009.

Accomplishments

*30+ professions of faith.

*30+ baptisms

*Many new young adult members have joined and are attending our church services, fellowships, and bible studies and more are being added weekly.

*Introduced countless people in the Third Ward Area to the good news that Jesus saves from sin.

*Continued the The Real Word Bible Study – Romans, Ephesians, and parts of Acts were covered this year.

*Continued Good Hope Mission to Cuny Homes

*Building community by building accountability

*The Morning After outreach to Rice, University of Houston, and Texas Southern University.

*Improved our online community to 1000+ young adults from all over the greater Houston Area and the world via Facebook, Twitter, and .

*Started online radio show and blog which serves as a ministry opportunity for young adults.

*Continued C.H.A.O.S. fellowships that are outreaches to the community

*Vastly improved publicity of events particularly word of mouth

*Improved volunteer base of the ministry and church as bonds of disicpleship have begun to form.

*Served our community in many ways including: serving the homeless population; volunteering with the Angel Tree ministry; cleaning our church; cooking for and praying with AIDS patients; volunteering with the Angel Tree Ministry.

*Started the City Council, which provides collegiate leadership to our young adult ministry.

*Provided theological and leadership training to college students as it became available.

*Partnered with young adult leaders on the University of Houston, Rice, and HCC campus to provide gospel-centered teachers focused on making disciples.

*Partnered with ministries and participated in revivals and campus programs that led to conversions.

Many of you allowed God to work powerfully thru you. I love and appreciate God’s goodness as He has so wonderfully shown through you!

Improvements to be made

God has blessed us mightly. Just like with salvation, he blessed us in spite of ourselves. Some wise guy said, “the biggest room in the house is always the room for improvement.“ In following Pastor’s pronouncement for us to go from “Good to Great,“ there are always ways in which we can use our time, talents, and treasures more effectively.

*We need to be more effective in our prayer life.

*More targeted discipleship between church and young adults.

This year we are doing events that allow us to bridge the generational gap and truly become intentional at discipling people and providing mentorship

*Train and equip more people to do what we do, so that God’s work may be multiplied.

*Hold each other accountable to do God’s work well and not half-step – He didn’t, He gave his very best, his Son!

*Hold each other accountable in our walk and yield to God’s desire for us to live lives worthy of our calling.

Focus for this Year

*This year we will focus on building the people that God is sending. More one-on-one, more fellowship, and more helping people to understand their faith and share their faith. (1 Peter 3:15)

*Less time and focus doing programs and more time spent discipling and hanging out. It is this loosely structured time that makes all the difference in the world in shaping people for their purpose.

*Strengthen our ties to the TSU community.

*Integrating young adults in all ministries of our church particularly our youth and children.

*Continue to develop online radio presence and blog which we feel will get the Good News out about Jesus by any means necessary.

Let’s Partner with God

Again, we have had a great year, not because of all the stuff we have done, but we have all seen visible impact in people’s lives as a result of God working in the midst of us.

Remember our mission as a ministry:

“To reach young adults primarily in the Third Ward Area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to equip those young adults who have accepted Him as Lord with the wisdom that comes through the Word of God.”

God tells us specifically in his word that we ask anything in his name, that means anything that he has ordained for us to do and would bring him glory, he will do honor our request and partner with us. John 14:14. Let’s partner with God and get it done. I love you and I will continue to pray for you. Pray for me too.

In teaching on the Holy Spirit’s role in Acts, I saw a few things I wanted to share about Him:

* He can’t be caught. “Catching the Spirit” is an expression that is tied to tradition and not truth. The Spirit can move in a church service (Acts 2), but he can move any and anywhere he feels. He is God. Acts 5:3-4

*He is not an it. The Spirit is not an it or impersonal force. He is a person. John 16:7

*He is the third person of the Triune God. Matthew 28:19. But the members of the Trinity are still one God. Romans 6:4

*He is the Gift that God the Father gives to those who trust in Jesus for salvation. Acts 2:38

*He won’t leave you. He comes to live inside of you and is a seal of your salvation. Ephesians 1:14; Romans 8:12.

*He is necessary to live out the lifestyle of the believer in Jesus. Romans 8:5, Galations 5:16.

*He changes the worship game. Before Jesus came to earth, the Holy Spirit lived in the temple, which was where you came to worship. There was one place that people came to worship the One God and that was the temple in Jerusalem. Now, the Holy Spirit lives in those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We become the temples and the places of worship. Our life and how we live it becomes an act of worship to God. John 4:24; Romans 12:1.

On my birthday, I started to think about what I saw God doing in my life and others around me. This one was a no-brainer. I have seen dozens of people in the last 6 to 12 months come to know Jesus in a very real way. Not religion, where there is a constant craving to improve one’s self and the need to be recognized as a “good person’, but a man-decreasing, God-exalting relationship. A relationship where Jesus is seen as more than just a self-help guru, but the beautiful Lord and Savior of those who would just admit that they are not “good” people and want true change in their lives. I have literally seen dozens of people give their lives to Jesus, and then turn around and share this same news about Jesus with people they meet. I am witnessing an empowerment of the Holy Spirit that I have not seen in my 6 years of ministry.

I have seen young people, motivated by Jesus, looking after the needs of the homeless in their community. I have seen them knocking on doors and looking after the spiritual, physical, and emotional welfare of hundreds of people. I have seen folk set free from homosexuality and drug/alcohol addiction. I have seen people delivered from the clutches of atheism and agnosticism. I have seen Jesus remove the shackles of religious pride from people as they begin to live their lives afresh in His freedom. I have seen men and women released from the power of sin and Satan, as they come to realize that they are deeply and profoundly loved by God. I believe I am witnessing a revolution and God has just been awesome. Thank you Jesus, for allowing me to witness this — my faith has been increased. Let’s go!

P.S. Thanks to my University of Houston, Rice, HCC, TSU, and Good Hope kinfolk. You guys have made my birthday special.

Kinfolk, we had a wonderful time in studying the book of Ephesians through the series entitled: “The Chu’ch: Together We Stand.” We began to see our true identity in Christ Jesus and how God loves us dearly, so much so that he had a plan before the world existed to bring us into a permanent relationship with him through Jesus, even when we were going to diss Him for stuff He created. (Ephesians 1) I have been personally challenged to see that the greatest force for social change in the world is the gospel — the good news about Jesus Christ. Further, I see that the ones who are used by God to carry the news and be part of the change is the church — the worldwide group of people who call Jesus the Master of their lives. We have also seen people grow closer to God and closer to each other by hearing God’s Word to the Ephesians. My prayer is that the best is yet to come!

On August 27, 2009, 7:00pm, at the Center for Hope we are getting together as a young adult community to worship and communicate with Jesus. Normally, we get together and study the Word of God, but at this particular time we felt God’s pull to seek Him, His will, and His power for our lives as the summer is ending and the fall is about to begin! We are believing in faith that it will be an awesome time in prayer, song, and testimony.

During the CONFESSION portion of the evening, we are allowing you to bring items that God is leading you to get rid of (pictures of old boyfriends, CDs, King magazines, etc.), and put them in our Burn Box. Be obedient, bring them, and burn them! In addition, we will have a special time where you can text in your prayer requests and someone will talk to Jesus on your behalf. It will be powerful time in God, so join us!

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel.

30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”

41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

IDOLATRY

Idolatry is making a “good” thing “ultimate”. God created everything and everything he created he deemed to be “good.” Genesis 1. Any created thing that you put before God, is idolatry and it can be as subtle as valuing your education too much to having a heroin addiction. Anything can become an idol when we put it before the One who should be worshipped. Human beings are, by nature, worshippers, who will worship something – Creator or created. We have to worship. Romans 1:25.

We see from the text that Paul declares idols to be only “God’s made by hands”. That is, idols promise the world, take everything from you, and give you nothing in return. Idolatry is often linked with where we spend our time, talent, and our treasure and taking our idols from us often leads to violence. Acts 19:29. The people of Ephesus were willing to drag innocent folk around and shout for two hours in praise of a non-existent god called Artemis. It is rumored that almost 20,000 people were probably in the amphitheater at the time. Also, notice how the idolatry of the people of Ephesus, was big business for other people to profit from. Acts 19:25. Kind of like how Paris Hilton, Lil Wayne and reality TV generate so much money, because people follow their every move, consume anything that they produce, where anything that they wear, and hang on to anything that they say.

Forms of Idolatry:

Celebrities: Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Beyonce, etc.

Sometimes people begin to follow and model themselves and their thinking after these stars. For me Tupac, Jay-Z, and Nas were the ones who most shaped my thinking. They were my preachers who spoke into my life and whose lyrics I can still quote verbatim today. Man, when I was in high school, I would shave my head bald and wear those locs that R. Kelly used to wear.

Ideas: Democracy, Capitalism, Materialism. Whole world systems are built on these and other ideas. When we trust into any of these -isms, we can then put money or democracy over the living God. The economy right now is proof that even capitalism and the free market can fail you and that the only person worth putting absolute trust in is not Greenspan or Bernanke, but Jesus.

Relationships: There are people who base their identity on their romantic relationships. Some folk compromise their values and themselves to be with the one they “love.”

Vocational Idols: We can be so driven to meet our career goals that we forsake everything including our own life and family to meet them.

Religious Idols: Pastors, teachers, leaders, can become more a god to look to for everything, instead of a man who is being used by God to preach the Word of God. Do you leave your church service or just don’t come, if your favorite Pastor is not preaching? You may have an idol problem.

Families: Sons, daughters, parents, family code. Some times people make their children or the ultimate thing going on in their life, even over God. The children of these child-worshippers become rotten with God-like egos. Some folk make their parents the object of their worship, seeking approval from them well into adulthood.

Things: television, internet. (Facebook and Twitter can be mad addictive.)

Food: Some of us eat when we are depressed, eat when we are tired, eat because it taste good, and eat when we are having a bad day. Sounds like worship doesn’t it?

Idols can be vocational, cultural, religious, spiritual, relational, and physical. Anything that you make ultimate is an idol.

What can we do:

Recognize that these idols are created and not the Creator. Romans 1:25

Recognize that idols promise the world, take all you have, and give nothing in return, leaving you empty.

Recognize that you are a worshipper and that you have illegitimate things that you worship outside of God. 1 John 1:8

Recognize that you must replace idol worship with God worship?

Recognize and believe that you can recover from idol worship? I John 1:9

To determine idolatry in your life, answer these questions:

Where do you run to for comfort?

Whom do you go get counsel from?

Where do you spend your leisure money?

What do you feel like you can’t live without?

What do you prioritize in your life?

We are all susceptible to idolatry. Smash those idols and worship Jesus.